Hornby: Mike Ashley-backed toymaker announces plans to go private Retail Hornby, the international models and collectibles group advised by Mike Ashley, has announced plans to go private as it looks to sidestep regulatory hurdles and cut costs. The firm told markets Thursday it intends to strike its shares off London’s AIM stock exchange, citing regulatory burdens, limited liquidity and the high cost of maintaining a [...]
Workers rights: Don’t let ‘rogue’ firms undercut good employers, MPs urge Politics Changes to the government’s workers’ rights package should be made to ensure “rogue firms” don’t undercut Britain’s best employers, MPs have urged. The Employment Rights Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament, should have loopholes closed to avoid some companies exploiting work insecurity, the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee (BTC) has [...]
Ahead of the Game: Six Nations TV rights tender hit by delay Sport Business The Six Nations TV tender has been put on hold due to delays in finalising the format of the new global Nations Championship, which will launch next year. The 12-team tournament will definitely take place, with each nation playing three games in each hemisphere followed by play-offs in London, but the Six Nations and Sanzaar [...]
Jack Wills: Job cuts continue as fashion brand halves in size February 5, 2025 Profit has continued to fall at fashion brand Jack Wills, which is owned by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, as more jobs were cut and stores closed during its latest financial year. The company’s headcount reduced from 233 to 135 in the 12 months to 28 April, 2024, while it went from running 32 shops to [...]
Grocery inflation slowed as supermarket discounts deepened February 4, 2025 Grocery inflation in January slowed for the first time in six months after supermarkets lowered prices in response to stretched household budgets. Inflation was 3.3 per cent in January, easing from 3.7 per cent in December, according to the latest figures from Kantar. Prices rose for chocolate, juices and butters, but fell for cooking sauces, [...]
Revealed: Who paid the most tax in 2024? January 24, 2025 One of the UK’s richest hedge fund managers paid the most tax in the UK this year, contributing over £339m in just 12 months, according to the Sunday Times Tax list. Sir Chris Hohn, who founded British hedge fund the Children’s Investment Fund Management in 2003, topped the list of Britain’s top taxpayers, trumping gambling [...]
Frasers Group set to accuse Boohoo of undisclosed payments to founder’s son January 22, 2025 Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is set to open a new front in its war of words with Boohoo this evening, accusing the fast fashion firm of allegedly paying its founder’s son £2m-a-year but failing to tell shareholders, City AM has learned. In the latest attack of a long-running spat between the two companies, Frasers is [...]
‘We need to get back to our very best’: Boohoo boss vows to make 2025 a ‘year to remember’ January 22, 2025 The chief executive of fast-fashion giant Boohoo has said the group “needs to get back to our very best” as he vowed to make 2025 “a year to remember”. Daniel Finley was speaking a day after shareholders voted to keep co-founder Mahmud Kamani on its board in another blow to Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group. But [...]
Boohoo shareholders shun Frasers and vote to keep co-founder Kamani on board January 21, 2025 Boohoo shareholders have voted two to one against a resolution proposed by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group to remove co-founder and vice chair Mahmud Kamani as a director of the fast-fashion giant. Four fifths of shareholders took part, and two thirds of participating shareholders voted to retain Kamani on the board of the Manchester-headquartered company. In a statement, [...]
Wall Street banks JP Morgan, Citi and Goldman Sachs report bumper profit January 15, 2025 Some of Wall Street’s biggest banks reported a surge in profit today on the back of a rebound in dealmaking and strengthening equity markets toward the end of last year. JPMorgan Chase, the US’s biggest lender, said profit had jumped 50 per cent to $14bn (£11.41bn) through the final quarter as its dealmakers and traders [...]